One of the challenges I face as an artist (and I suspect I am not alone in this) is producing new work on a consistent basis. I do, but no matter how much, I know I should be producing more. There are so many things that get in the way: paperwork, marketing, framing, cleaning (not enough of this), etc. Still, [...]

The last impression of the last color has been completed. What next? Well, obviously, you let the ink dry. Depending on the ink and the number of layers this can take a couple of days or a week or more. Then, you begin the process of curation. Curation is the process of organizing all of the artifacts from the printing [...]

Normally, when you are printing an edition, you are striving to make each print in the edition as close to identical as possible. Not always though. I am not talking about monotypes or monoprints here. A monotype is created from a completely blank plate by drawing / painting with ink and making one or more impressions on a sheet of [...]

Printmaking has long tradition of collaborative art. When making an original print, there are two distinct roles: artist and printer. For many printmakers these two roles are combined. The artist is also the printer. But it doesn't have to be that way. High quality printing requires a lot of skill and often a significant investment in space and equipment. [...]

I have just completed editioning a new 4 plate woodcut. The image is derived from a fire escape on a building in central Denver. Nothing particularly unusual, but, like many things it caught my eye. Each of the plates is 1/2" MDF. The plate is primed with a layer of cut shellac, then a thin layer of acrylic gesso. There [...]

I completed a new edition today. Northern Pacific is an image of a railroad drawbridge, in the raised position, near the Port of Seattle. It is a three plate color woodcut. All three plates are 1/2" MDF, sealed with shellac, a thin coat of acrylic gesso and then a second coat of shellac applied after cutting. It is printed on [...]

In the movie Apollo 13, Gene Kranz, the Flight Director, asserts that "Failure is not an option!". It isn't clear whether he actually said that, but he certainly believed it.For me, as an artist, the opposite is true. Failure is always an option. I was working on a plate for a new print this afternoon, which was actually going quite [...]

I have been busy editioning several new prints over the last little bit. It seems like I have had more work in progress, and less finished. I am sort of catching up on the backlog. North Lake Way Color Woodcut 21 7/8" x 14 1/4" Edition of 10 Copyright 2010, Dean Russell Thompson This is a three plate color woodcut, [...]

I was wiping a trial proof of a deeply etched plate the other day and got to thinking about the art of wiping. Much of the process of wiping is mechanical, so my mind often has time to wander. In this particular case, I was contemplating the difference between an 'artistic' wipe and a clean one.Historically some printmakers (Whistler comes [...]

I have been trying to concentrate on improving my productivity in the studio of late. Part of the problem is that there are so many other things that demand my attention. Work on the studio itself, business related issues, submissions, Jack the studio dog... It is hard not to succumb to the 'tyranny of the urgent'. Jack the studio dog [...]